Dual is one of the most interesting and innovative games we've seen in quite a while. The retro-styled cross-platform Android & iPhone game is designed to get players moving in the real world while slugging out with virtual bullets.
"It requires people to be aware of both screens in order to get a full picture of everything," said game creator Sebastian Gosztyla. "This makes the players' bodies become part of the experience. They become aware of their proximity and movements to each other, and create rules about how to play. I have seen people hide screens, get a little physical, use their height as an advantage or just turn around and ignore the other screen altogether."
In order to emphasize and facilitate interpersonal interactions, Gosztyla added cross-platform play between iOS and Android. Needless to say, this wasn't an easy task but in the end he managed to have it work over Wi-Fi but not over Bluetooth.
"As far as I know, iOS and Android cannot talk to each other over Bluetooth," explained Gosztyla. "One of the biggest challenges I wanted to tackle early on was to get the networking to feel smooth and consistent. I spent a good deal of time working with different networking models, adjusting for lag, and making sure bullets travel through that small gap between the start of each screen when you put two phones side by side."
Dual has two game modes: the competitive "Dual" mode and the cooperative "Defend" mode. The game also includes 3 different ships with different abilities. It will be released on April 2nd, 2015 as a free-to-play game which includes a single ship and access to the Dual mode only. A onetime in app purchase of $1.99 unlocks the full game including the ability to play "Defend" with non-paying friends.
"I'm really not a big fan of free-to-play games or ads, but I couldn't get myself to put a price on a game that you can't play by yourself," noted Gosztyla. "Even when a game is $0.99 (less than a cup of coffee), I don't personally feel comfortable asking friends to buy it just so they can play with me, in case they don't enjoy it. I wanted this game to be easily accessible for anyone that got asked to just pick up and play."